Daddy Daycare comes to an end...

8/25/13

Today brings the end of an era...it's my last day of Daddy Daycare, and I'm not happy about it at all!!!

When Erica was born almost 5 months ago, I knew I would be home with her for the summer. I was very nervous at the time and wasn't sure how it would go and wasn't sure if I'd be overwhelmed by full days of daddy-duty when Laura went back to work. Now that I'm sitting on the couch with Erica sleeping in my arms one last time for the summer, I'm a pretty sad dad!!!

The first 2 weeks were tough. I won't lie about that!  It took us time to learn how to work with each other while mom left us alone for the day. I don't think I was a bad dad before summer started, but Laura definitely had me beat in terms of all of the cues and signals she could pick up on from Erica!!!  Now, we seem to be very equal to each other, though she still has that mommy instinct that I'll never be able to topple!

My last couple of days with Erica this past week were not enjoyable at all. I caught a quick flu bug that kicked my butt and had me down on the couch for 2 full days while we were on the north shore for Laura's training. Luckily, Laura's parents were up there and were able to help for a day before my parents took over for a day while Laura finished her training in Duluth. Unfortunately for Grandpa Russ, he spent 2 of his vacation days on the north shore in the hospital due to a bout with diverticulitis. Now that I'm on the mend, I need to make sure Erica doesn't catch what I had!!!

I thought it'd be a good way to end Daddy Daycare by sharing some highlights from our first summer together:

- occasional baths during the day due to blow outs 

- dad screaming like a little girl when those blowouts got on his hands!

- walking Lexi and pushing Erica in her stroller around the neighborhood when it wasn't sticky hot out!!!

- Erica joining dad and "the boys" (the old  men neighbors) for a beer occasionally in the afternoons and listening to us talk about boring guy stuff!!!

- meeting up with friends and their young kids for dinner and play dates (thanks, Moes, Swaineys, Ericksons, Garcias, and Levendoskis)

- Taking Erica to school with me a few days to work in my new classroom at the high school. She can proudly say she was the first kid to fall asleep in my class this year!!!

- watching Lexi play fetch with dad during the day and smiling when she gnawed on my arms!!!

- we enjoyed a trip to North Dakota to visit Laura's family and a couple trips to the lake for the weekend

- Erica saw her first ship come into Two Harbors while mommy worked one morning!

- by far the best part of my summer was waking up to a smiling baby every morning in her crib when I awoke to her babbling and screeching!!!

There were countless other things I loved this summer, but I don't have time to list them all. Each week brought new excitement as I watched Erica discover more and more in the world around her!!! 

At the start of the summer, I had 2 goals: I wanted to get Erica on a napping routine, and I wanted to do some reading. I'm happy to say I accomplished both of those goals!!! Considering Erica never napped before the summer started, she now takes 2 each day and has a fairly established daily routine and both Laura and I can tell when she needs a nap!!!  My reading was fun as well. I read 2 books and just started another last week, though I'm not sure how much I'll be able to read once the school year starts next week!!!

And so, with this final update from Daddy Daycare for our first summer, I'll leave you with a laugh...as Laura and I pulled into St. Paul this afternoon returning from the lake, Laura smelled poop!!! We decided to press on and get home instead of a diaper change off the highway. We got home and Laura carried Erica into the house in her carseat with a startling observation..."Dan, her seat is leaking poop!!!"  Erica pooped through her carseat!!! Luckily the base prevented it from leaking on to the seat of the car!!!  It took both of us to extricate her, undress and rinse her before I bathed her and Laura began wiping out her seat. It took both of us to figure out how to take the seat apart and unhook the straps so we could clean it properly!!!  Now, it sits drying on the deck...until it dries, Erica is grounded and staying home!!!

Thanks so much for checking in on our latest update!! I appreciate you reading my Daddy Diary!  Take care. 

Here's a picture of my "little nugget" snoozing in my lap as I wrote this entry!!!

And here's the culprit of the epic poop I described above...before we started cleaning!!!!

Erica visiting grandpa Russ in the hospital in Duluth while Laura worked...before Dad got his dose of stomach problems!!

 

And this last one is Erica watching her first ore boat, the "Edwin H Gott", a "1000 footer" come into Two Harbors one morning

Daddy Daycare; North Shore Edition

8/18/13

This week, Daddy Daycare takes to the road for a special, "North Shore Edition" while Laura trains for her new job in Duluth!  (Yes, there are pictures at the bottom from our last few weeks together!!!)

A few weeks ago, Laura accepted a new position and left her old job, along with the daily 2+ hrs in the car to and from Minnetonka!  Her new job will be doing the same thing, but through a Duluth-based company and she will be working from home!  So, today was our first full day up at my parents' lake home on the North Shore and we're looking forward to the next week up here while Laura gets trained in with her new company. 

To keep us company, Laura's parents are taking a week's vacation and will be up on the shore this week as well.  They will be staying at Superior Shores, where Laura and I got married just over 4 years ago, while we're 9 miles farther up the shore. 

Once we're done with this week, I'll be back to work and back to the grind...ugh!  When Laura went back to work from her maternity leave, I didn't know why she was so moapy and wondered how she was going to miss Erica as much as she was saying she would.  Little did I know what I was in for after a summer home with my Little Nugget and Lexi!  I've been depressed all month long knowing my summer is about to end!  It's been my most favorite summer yet...nothing can compare to how awesome it's been hanging out with Erica and bonding with her on a daily basis.  She is so fun to watch grow.  She gets cuter by the day and each week brings some new development or milestone she reaches. 

It's been a while since my last update, so I'll do my best to provide little glances at some things we've enjoyed over the past few weeks:

- Erica is now reach for everything she can possibly get her hands on!  Anything she does grab, goes right into her mouth!  Needless to say, mommy and daddy are always on our toes now and are cautious about what's in arms reach!!  Whether it's a plate, cell phone, dad's lips or mom's hair...everything is fair game!!!

- She has definitely found her voice over the past month.  It started with some panting (perhaps she's imitating Lexi?!?!) and now has moved into high-pitches squeals/screeches (like some sort of prehistoric flying dinosaur?!?!) and lots of grunting.  Erica and I have seemed to developed our own caveman-type language.  She grunts, and I grunt back and she grunts again and so for several seconds.  Laura is left to wonder what we're saying about her!

- She is constantly smiling!  It's pretty cool to see her always smiling throughout the day.  Our favorite time of day is the morning when Laura or I get her up from her crib...regardless of who it is, we are always greeted with some massive smiles when we peer over the edge of her crib!  I enjoy asking her to show me her smile, and she shows me that adorable smile with her one dimple almost every time on cue!

- She loves watching Lexi!  It doesn't matter if Lexi is playing fetch with us, attacking/chewing on me, or just lying around the house, Erica will just stare at her endlessly!  Of course, now that she is reach for things, she is now trying to pet Lexi if we get her close enough to her...and because she grasps everything her fingers touch, she usually ends up with a fistful of Lexi hair!

- She now tries to feed herself!  She knows when we're getting a bottle ready for her and once I sit down with her, she looks over to the table where the bottle usually sits and she sees it...and then she starts panting and the arms start flailing as she gets so excited for her bottle!  I then move it to within arms reach and she grabs it with both hands and pulls it towards her mouth.  It's funny because she hasn't figure out all the motions of her wrists, so she just pulls the bottle straight at her face and ends up with the bottle smashed against her lips. With a little help from dad, she is able to move it to the right angle and then immediately forces it into her mouth...all the while, her panting never ceases! 

I hope I haven't left anything out, but I know I can't possibly get everything from the past few weeks into this entry!  If you're still reading/following my blog, thanks so much for checking in with us and reading along as Erica continues to grow and develop before our eyes!  And of course, no entry is complete without expressing my appreciation for you reading this entry of my Daddy Diary.  Take care!

Erica watched her first ore boat, the Edgar B Speer, pull into Two Harbors this afternoon. 

Our Growing Girl!

8/7/13

Our little Erica is getting big...so fast!!!

I took her to the doctor for her 4 month check up yesterday.  She is definitely growing!  Laura, my parents and others were putting bets on how big she would be...She tipped the scales 1/2oz shy of 14lbs, and was 26in long!  If she hadn't been spitting up all morning before the doctor, I would've been right with my guess of more than 14lbs!!! 

The doctor said she is in great health and is doing excellent!  She is in the 95% for height, meaning she is taller than 95% of other babies her age.  She is in the 50% for weight.  The doctor said to take that with a grain of salt because the babies they use for those numbers are all formula fed, and since Erica is on breast milk, it's apples and oranges to compare the two.  But, she did say she is a tall girl.  She couldn't say that it means she'll be a tall girl when she gets older, but that's what it's looking like at this point.  Perhaps we have ourselves a basketball or volleyball player on our hands?!?!  Just so long as she keeps growing and outgrows a good hockey size...we can't afford all of that gear nor do we want to become annoying hockey parents!!!

At this check up, Erica also had to get some shots.  There were 6 vaccines combined into 3 shots, plus an oral one.  She was quite the trooper.  I noticed my leg bouncing and twitching before the nurse came in.  Once she was on the table, she squeezed my thumbs (something we've done during shots since her first few the day she was born!).  She screamed a bit, but settled down pretty quickly after they were done.  The rest of the day she was a bit fussy and didn't sleep much.  I'm guessing that was because of her sore legs?!  She made up for it last night...we put her down for bed around 8pm and she slept in this morning until 10:30am!!!  What a good snooze!  I checked on her a few times to make sure she was still breathing after I got up...and I decided to let her sleep and catch up on her missed naps from yesterday.  But, at 10:30...out of jealousy, I woke her up and we started our day with a big bottle, clean diaper and took Lexi for a walk.

Other than that, I don't have much else to report on Erica.  Laura's last day at her current company is in 2 days.  She then has a week off before starting her new job from home!!!  She will essentially be doing the same thing she is doing now, but through a Duluth-based company that has a lot of employees work from home.  She is excited about this new opportunity...and a much short commute to work!!!  She will have training in Duluth in a couple of weeks, so Daddy Daycare will be on the road as Erica and I join her for over a week at The Lake on the North Shore.  Erica and I will be hanging out while Laura commutes to Duluth.  Even though it'll be a 45 minute drive each way, it will still be shorter than her current drive!!!  Grandpa and Grandma C will be in Duluth that week as well for a vacation, so we'll be spending some time with them while Laura works.  I have plans to meet up with an old teacher friend that lives near Duluth for part of a day, and Erica and I plan to head to Grand Marais with her grandparents another day during the week.  Once we're home, it'll be into the grind of school and normalcy again.  Laura's first day from home is also my first day of workshops.  It's also Erica's first full day with our nanny! 

I think I've mentioned it before, but we are sharing a nanny with our friends and their 6 month old girl at our house.  We definitely need the nanny at least for the first year so Laura can get into her groove and make a good impression at her new job, while Erica is still at a pretty high-maintenance stage in life.  With any luck, we may not need a nanny in a year or two?!?!  Regardless, it's a win-win for all parties...especially Lexi!!!

And with that, I'll wrap up this entry.  I hope you enjoy my Daddy Diary and I thank you for continuously checking in on our little angel, Erica!!!  Take care and thanks again!

And with that...

Professional Pictures

8/4/13

We had our first professional pictures with Erica taken a week ago...and now we have a problem...we don't know which one is our favorite!!!

Luckily for us, we purchased a package that gives us the CD with digital copies of all pictures taken...for this photo shoot and a few additional ones over the course of her first year to show her growth!!!  So now, as we look at these great pictures, we have no clue which ones are our favorites!!! Fortunately, we have the digitals so we can print and frame at our leisure, and not have to decide on 3 prints to be produced by the studio for an astronomical fee!

We took Erica last Saturday for her first pictures.  It's an in-home photographer that has been doing this for decades, but recently moved his business from a studio to his home.  His "in-law suite" was converted to a studio in recent years and it worked great!  He had a variety of props/stages inside as well as dozens of locations/sets to be used outside. As we walked around his acres of property on our way to a pond, we couldn't help but think how cute Erica would look in a few of the sets. 

Without spending hours typing this blog, I'll summarize it by saying Erica did an awesome job at the photo shoot, and she looks absolutely adorable in each and every picture the photographer snapped.  The instant we sat her down she struck a pose on her own and it was all smiles and great pictures until the tears started to flow an hour later that told us our time was up!  I've included a few pictures below to give you an idea of the variety of pictures we took last Saturday.  We're excited to go back in a few months and then repeat the process a few more times to capture some cute memories of our little girl as she grows before our eyes!

Enjoy...and, as always, thanks for reading my Daddy Diary!!!  Take care!